The Kanto Tales
by mynameisella
Summary: It's every kid's dream to be a Pokémon trainer. Jade dreamt of the opportunity all the time growing up, but she never thought it would actually happen. She wakes up one morning in the Poké-universe with nothing more than a note to guide her on her Pokémon journey. Jade will meet people, see creatures, and experience thrills she'd once thought only existed on TV. Semi-SI OC
1. Meet Jade Wheeler

My eyes fluttered open sleepily, only to see an unfamiliar room in front of me. I froze for a moment, my heart beating fast. It was a nicely decorated bedroom, similar to my own but... different. I heard a noise outside the bedroom door and sat up, bolt straight. Straight blonde hair fell into my eyes and I shook it away. My heart thudded harder in my chest.

I didn't have blonde hair.

I was halfway through a full-fledged panic attack when my mother popped her head in the doorway. She looked ridiculous with the door still mostly shut and just her head poking through. Her short curls fell down sideways.

"Good, you're up! Have you decided if today's the day?" She looked at me expectantly. I just shrugged my shoulders. I didn't know what she wanted. My mind was whirling, trying to figure out what was going on. We were in some foreign house and I had blonde hair and my mom was acting like everything was totally normal!

Mom frowned. "You only have a few more days until you're Pokémon Trainer license will expire if you don't claim it," she stated. Pokémon? What the hell was going on?

"Okay?" I said. "Mom, what's going on?"

Mom finally stepped fully into the bedroom. She looked concerned. She walked over to my bed and placed her hand on my forehead.

"What do you mean? Are you feeling sick? You can probably get an extension if you're coming down with something." I batted her hand away.

"No, I'm not sick!" I said. "I'm confused!"

"Well, I'm sure you'll feel better after breakfast. Waffles, your favorite!" Mom was out the door as I heard someone (probably my sister) calling for her. As soon as she was out of sight, I let out a huge breath.

I climbed out of the bed and shut the door. I took in the bedroom once again, noting the pink walls with... Pokémon posters all over the place. Weird. There was a desk in the corner with an open notebook on top, so I walked over there for a look.

 _Jade_ , it read. At least my name was still the same. I sat down on the desk chair, pushing the pile of clothes on top of it to the floor.

 _I'm sure this is all very confusing. I don't have time to explain, so I'll give you the briefest note I can. You're in the world of Pokémon, though no doubt you've figured that out by now._ I hadn't actually, but it sort of made sense. If you forgot the fact that Pokémon was fictional, you know. _You've got your Pokémon Trainer license, which means you're now free to travel the globe battling Pokémon! That's the sort of thing you've dreamt of, isn't it._ Maybe. Okay, yes, it was. Who wouldn't want to be a Pokémon trainer?

 _You live on Primer Island, a small town located on an island just south of Pallet Town. All you have to do is go to Pallet and meet Professor Oak. He'll give you a Pokédex, which has many more functions than you may realize. A Pokédex doubles as a camera, a map, your I.D., as well as any other function your typical smartphone might have. You will also use your Pokédex to pay for anything you might need (food, clothes, hotel rooms, souvenirs...). Don't be afraid to use it as much as you want._

 _Your bag is in the closet. It is very much like a Pokéball. That is, to say, it's bigger on the inside. You'll find that you will have more than enough room in there for all the clothes, food, books, souvenirs, and supplies that you could ever need. Don't lose that bag. It costs more than your house, so it's a once in a lifetime sort of purchase._

 _You must be scared. You've awoken in a new world with little to no explanation. Take the gift for what it is and go on your Pokémon journey. You have the rest of your life to travel all of the regions (Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, and Alola), so enjoy it. Take your time and see the sights. Make friends, battle Pokémon, win gym badges. Have fun._

 _Signed,_

 _Your friend_

 _P.S You have to take the ferry to get to Pallet._

* * *

I stood in front of the mirror. Just like the note had said, I'd found a pink shoulder bag hanging in the closet. I packed all the clothes I could find in the room, which were all variations of the same style. I guess if you're in an anime world, you gotta dress like an anime character. That means wearing virtually the same outfit everyday. I'd gotten dressed in a white top with a Peter Pan collar and a high-waisted, pink, pleated skirt. I had a pair of white tights under that with white sneakers that had pink Pokéballs on them. Whoever designed my new room really thought I had an obsession with pink.

I'd even found a round, pink hat and a pair of white sunglasses. Those both went on my head. With the blonde hair that went just past my shoulders, I looked liked the female trainer from the Pokémon XY games.

There was still a part of me that was freaking out as I pulled four books from my bookshelf, two journals, and many pens from my desk, and managed to fit them all into the bag. When I slung it over my shoulder, it felt like I had a sweatshirt in there at most. It was nuts. This whole thing was nuts! I looked around my room for anything else I might need for a Pokémon journey. I couldn't think of anything and figured I could pick up the rest on the way, if need be. Apparently trainers get unlimited money while traveling. Though it did make me wonder where the money was coming from. Was it government funded? Where did the government get the money?

At the last second, I turned back to the desk and ripped the note out of the spiral-bound notebook. I shoved the note in my bag's front pocket and left, heading downstairs.

"You sure took your time!" Mom called, not turning around from her seat in the kitchen when I entered the room. My little sister, Valerie, was sat facing me and widened when she took in my appearance. She looked the same, just like Mom did. She had long brown hair, brown eyes, and was about twelve or thirteen years old.

"You're leaving? Today?" Val asked. I shifted the bag on my shoulder and nodded. Mom whipped around to look at me, tears already in her eyes.

"Yep. I'll head for the ferry after I eat." I sat at the empty space at the table, where a waffle was waiting. It was kind of cold by then, but I didn't care.

"That's so great, Jadie!" Mom exclaimed. "You're going to have so much fun!"

"Why can't I go with Jade?" Valerie asked, a whining note in her voice. My heart skipped a beat and my eyes widened. The last thing I wanted on this weird journey/dream/whatever-the hell-this-is was my little sister tagging along. Luckily, Mom shook her head and sighed, as if this had been an argument they'd had many times.

"You can't go until you're sixteen, like Jade," Mom explained, her voice exasperated. Yep, they'd definitely had this conversation before. I took a big bite of my waffle.

"I don't have to catch Pokémon!" Valerie insisted. "I'll just go and watch."

"No, Val."

"But Mom!"

"I said no!" I quickened my eating, wishing for nothing more than to escape before Valerie had a total meltdown. Her eyes were already threatening tears.

Ugh. I ate so fast my stomach was hurting. I downed my milk and said, "Well, I think I'm off! I text you from my Pokédex when I get to Pallet! Tell Dad I said bye." I gave kisses really quick and was almost out the door and away from the tantrum when Mom called out.

"Wait! Let me get a picture before you leave." I sighed and twirled around, my skirt flowing around my legs.

"One picture," I said. "Then I have to catch the ferry." I had no idea how often the ferry ran. Valerie handed Mom her digital camera, her face streaked red from her tears. I smiled brightly for the camera, one arm up to hold my hat back. Mom tried to take a couple more, but I managed to slip out the door before she could.

Primer Island was small enough that no matter where you were, you could see the ocean. As someone who loved the ocean, I greatly appreciated this. I breathed a calming breath, soaking in the sea air. I wandered around the town a little, but spotted the ferry dock easily enough. I started walking towards it when something caught my eye.

"Bad! Bad, bad Eevee!" A pudgy woman had a rolled up newspaper in her hand was whacking a little Eevee with every 'bad'. "What a bad, bad Pokémon! You know better than to bite at my ankles! Bad!"

There was a small thrill running up my spine at seeing my first Pokémon in person, but it was greatly overshadowed by the disgust at the woman's behavior.

"Excuse me!" I found myself saying before I realized what I was doing. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What does it look like, Jade?" The woman asked, disdain dripping as she spoke my name. I bristled. "It's called training." She raised her newspaper again and I caught her arm. She was taller and heavier than I was, but I did my best to wrangle to newspaper from her grip.

"It's called abuse! You should never hit your Pokémon!" I cried, throwing the newspaper on the ground. "What kind of trainer are you?" The woman sneered at me.

"I'm free to train my Pokémon however I see fit," she said between ground teeth. "Now take a hike!"

"No." I stood up as tall as I could. I was a pretty short person, so that wasn't saying a whole lot, but still. "I won't let you hurt your Eevee like that."

"Is there a problem here?" I was surprised that I actually recognized Officer Jenny's voice before I even turned to face her. The woman immediately smiled sweetly at the blue-haired officer, who was eyeing us.

"No, not at all!" The pudgy woman simpered, her hands in front of her as a sign of innocence.

At the same time I said, "She's beating her Pokémon!"

"What?" Officer Jenny growled, glaring at the woman.

"Jade is a liar!" The woman shouted. "I would never hurt my poor, precious little Eevee." She ducked down to grab her Eevee, which did indeed look worse for wear, but the Eevee dodged her hands and scurried behind my legs.

There was a glint in Officer Jenny's eyes. "I'm afraid you'll have to come with me, Mrs. Kline. We'll have a nice long look at your trainer record and see if you should be allowed to keep your Pokémon."

Mrs. Kline spluttered stupidly, but finally bit her lip and nodded. Officer Jenny faced me, her face softening.

"I'll take care of this one, Jade. You'd better get going." I nodded, not even questioning how Jenny knew my name. It was that sort of small town. Jenny tried to grab Eevee, but it dodged yet again and clung to my leg. Its claw poked through my tights.

"Hey," I said gently, bending down. Slowly, I reached my hand out. Eevee flinched at first, but after a moment realized I wasn't going to hurt it and let me pet it softly. "It'll be okay. Officer Jenny won't let anything bad happen to you. I promise."

"You should take her," Jenny said. I looked up in surprise.

"What?"

"That Eevee. You should take her." Jenny grabbed onto Mrs. Kline's arm, practically daring her to object. "She trusts you. I doubt she'll trust anyone but the person who saved her."

I felt kind of weird at the thought of taking someone else's Pokémon, but I also kind of wanted to stick it in Mrs. Kline's face, so I picked Eevee up gently and held her in my arms.

"Well, Eevee? Do you wanna come with me? See the world, battle in gyms, and have a good time?" Eevee looked up at me, her eyes big and somehow so trusting. Finally, she nodded and butted her head against my chin. I giggled. "I guess that's a yes!"

Jenny smiled at us. "Good. Now, you'd better get going. That's the last ferry until after lunch." She nodded towards the dock. The ferry, which was a surprisingly small boat, let out a warning horn. I nodded, gave my thanks to Jenny, and hurried off to catch the ferry.

Once I made it onto the boat, I found a spot facing Pallet Town. Primer Island was only a mile or two off the shore, so the town was in pretty clear sight already as the ferry took off. I set Eevee down in my lap and scratched her head softly.

Pallet Town, home to Ash Ketchum. If Officer Jenny was real, did that mean Ash was too? Would I meet him? I hoped so.

I shook my head as the wind whipped my newly blonde hair into my face. I couldn't believe this was happening to me. There was a part of me that thought it might be a dream (how could it not be, the little voice in my head cried.), but I found as I sat there, cuddling with Eevee, that I didn't really care whether or not it was real. As long as I had a fun Pokémon journey, I could take whatever came my way.

Pokémon world, meet Jade Wheeler.

* * *

 **A/N** : Welcome to Jade's Journal, my first ever Pokémon fanfiction! A few notes for anyone who cares:

1\. Yes, this is a semi-SI OC centric story. I hope that's okay with you.

2\. The characters are aged up, as I really don't think 10-year-olds should be allowed to travel the world on their own. You have to be at least 16 to get your Pokémon license in this story.

3\. This will be an amalgamation of the games, the anime, and the new Pokémon I Choose You! movie. I will let you know when the movie chapters start in case you have yet to see the film.

4\. Yes, I made up a city/island for my OC. I didn't want her in Pallet because I didn't want her to know Ash yet, but I needed a city that was basically Pallet Town. So I made one up. It'll probably be the only time I do something like that, but feel free to correct me on any future Pokémon-world related mistakes.

5\. There's a poll up on my profile pertaining to this story. I would greatly appreciate if you voted on it for me!

Please, please, _please_ leave a review! Let me know what you think of the story, or else if you think it's work continuing. Any review is a good review.

Until next time, trainers!


	2. A Day in Pallet

Pallet Town was just about as small as Primer Island. I stepped off the ferry, Eevee sitting comfortably in my arms, and took it all in. The only thing there really was to see was the house with the windmill on the hill. Oh wait! That's not a house- it's Professor Oak's lab. Right. It looked just like the anime.

"Ready, Eevee? This is it." Eevee purred in my arms and I made my way up the sidewalk towards the lab. It was going on noon and I was getting hungry. Turns out fighting with an old lady over a Pokémon can do that to you. Who would have ever guessed.

There were some people milling about the town, but not a whole lot. I wondered how many of the citizens here were off on a Pokémon journey, and how many were just trainers. As I stepped up to the door of the lab, I shifted Eevee in my arms so I could knock. I stepped back, nerves twisting in my stomach. I hated being the one to knock on doors, make phone calls, or put myself out there in any way.

It made me wonder how I was going to make friends on this journey. That was kind of the key element of the Pokémon anime; you travel the world, see amazing sights, and all along you're with your friends. What if I don't make any friends? What if I can't even get other Pokémon to be my friend? What if it's just me and Eevee and we can't even beat any gyms and this whole journey becomes a whole bust and then I'm miserable and why did I come to this world anyway and-

The door opened, revealing a man who could only be Professor Oak. He looked just like he did in the anime and the games. I tensed up even more, squeezing Eevee to my chest.

"Oh, hello," Professor Oak said, looking down at me with a small smile. He sounded just the same as the anime, just like Jenny had! It was so bizarre to hear it in real life and not through a TV speaker. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm Jade Wheeler," I said. I had the overwhelming urge to bow, but I didn't. I felt so awkward standing there on his doorstep. "I'm here to get my Pokédex?"

Familiarity lit up in the professor's eyes. He stepped back to let me into the lab. "Ah, yes. I was beginning to wonder if you would come at all. You're very close to the pickup date."

"I know," I murmured, though I really didn't. I didn't even know what date it was, nor when my pickup date was. "But I'm here now. I'm ready to start my journey."

"Eevee!" Eevee chirped. I smiled.

"Eevee's ready to go, too." I paused. "Do you have any potions, or know where I could get some?" Eevee wasn't complaining, but she looked like she was still in some pain. Stupid Mrs. Kline. I hoped vehemently that she lost her her Trainer license and all of her Pokémon.

"Of course. I guess that means you don't need one of my starter Pokémon?" He led me to a room that looked almost like a doctor's office. All over the tables were labelled Pokémon: Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charmander. There were tons of them. So how had Ash ended up with Pikachu? Along one of the walls was a shelf full of little cubbies.

"Um, I mean, I guess not," I said, though I lowkey still wanted a Squirtle. But I figured it might be greedy to ask for one when I had Eevee, so I kept my mouth shut.

Professor returned to where I stood and held out his hands. In one was a red thing that looked like a mix between an iPhone and the sort of Pokédex you see in the anime. In the other was six Pokéballs. I set Eevee on the table next to me, careful not to knock over the Pokéballs, and accepted them from him. I stuck the Pokéballs in the front pocket of my bag and examined the phone/Pokédex. It had a touch screen and unlocked easily.

"That's your Pokédex, obviously," Professor Oak said. "Here, let me show you how it works." He took it back from me and showed me its various functions. You could scan Pokémon from the lock screen with a button, where it would read out the data it had on any given creature. He showed me the I.D. app, the credit card app, the camera app, and every other app that it came with. There really was an app for everything.

"Wow," I said, "it's crazy how much you can do with it." Professor Oak chuckled, patting my shoulder. He pulled a potion out of his pocket. I recognized it with its pink spray nozzle and purple bottle. He sprayed Eevee lightly and I watched in awe as she immediately healed in front of my eyes.

"Technology is certainly something else, isn't it?" I nodded. "So, what's next for you, Jade? Are you going to head out tonight?"

I shrugged and looked at Eevee, as if she would have an opinion on what we did. "Um, maybe in the morning? Is there a hotel in town? I might just stay and see the town for the rest of the day and get a fresh start in the morning."

Professor Oak nodded. "There's not a whole lot to see in Pallet, but it might be wise to get a good start in the morning. It's a full day's trek to Viridian City. There is a small bed and breakfast just down the road, by the PokéMart."

"That sounds good. What do you think, Eevee?" Eevee seemed to smile at me and chirped happily. I pet her head and stuck the Pokédex into my bag. Just as the clock struck noon and began chiming, my stomach growled. I blushed.

"Any good restaurants in town?" I asked sheepishly. Professor Oak nodded. He stuck his hands in his lab coat's pockets

"There's a good little café on the other side of town, near the ferry dock. It's pretty much the only restaurant in town."

"Then I guess that's where we'll have lunch!" Professor Oak hummed, clearly thinking to himself. "What?"

"Come back after you two eat. I might have something else for your journey." I raised my eyebrows.

"Could you, uh, be a little less cryptic?" I asked, only half joking. Professor Oak stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Nope."

I made a face. "Um, okay then. I'll be back in a bit, I guess?" Professor Oak nodded, eyes squinting as he thought about something seriously. My curiosity was definitely piqued, but I bit my tongue. I was _really_ hungry, okay?

* * *

Eevee was just finishing up her food when I remembered to text my mom. We were sat on the café's patio, where we had a nice view of both the ocean and the town. I found it slightly odd that a restaurant served Pokémon food as well as human food, but I figured things were just different here.

 _Made it to Pallet and got my Pokédex!_ I texted once I remembered my mom's phone number. _I love you._ For good measure, I sent her a picture of Eevee licking her bowl clean. It was so cute! Pokémon are even cuter in real life than they are in the anime.

I decided to stop at the bed and breakfast as well as the Pokémart before going back the lab. I stocked up on potions and Pokéballs, as well as snacks and water to eat on the trip. I checked into the bed and breakfast and secured my room for the night. Surprisingly, the woman who worked at the front desk was Delia Ketchum.

"Are you a Pokémon trainer?" Delia asked sweetly as she handed me my room key. I nodded.

"I just got my license today. I'll be heading out in the morning." Delia grinned.

"That's so exciting!" I was just thinking of a way to bring Ash into the conversation when she added, "My son actually just left on his trip this morning. Maybe you'll run into him sometime." Well, that answered that.

"I'll keep my eye out," I said, trying not to show my excitement at the thought. I slipped the key into my bag and turned to Eevee. She was leaning against my ankle, nuzzling it softly. "Ready to explore a bit?"

"Don't Pokémon usually stay in their Pokéballs?" Delia asked, looking down at Eevee. I paused, remembering her saying that exact line on the first episode.

"Oh, um, right." I fished a Pokéball out of the pocket. "I never gave you a Pokéball, did I?" Eevee tilted her head to the side, looking up at me. I bent down and held the Pokéball out in front of Eevee.

"You don't have to stay in it all the time," I said, "but just in case, okay?" Eevee nodded and tapped her forehead on the button. She was engulfed in a red light and disappeared into the red and white ball. I couldn't help but gape just a little. How the hell did Pokéballs even work? How can technology turn a living thing into- into _data_ or whatever and store it ready to go whenever in a ball?

I stood back up and waved at Delia. "I guess I'll see you later!"

"Have fun!" Dahlia called, sounding just like my mom. I smiled and headed out. Halfway down the block, I let Eevee out of her Pokéball.

"Now you're officially mine," I said to her. She smiled up at me and followed close to my heels as I walked. I figured we'd go back to Oak's lab first, find out what he had been talking about, and then explore the town a little bit. There really wasn't much to see, just like Professor Oak had said, but it would be something to do.

I knocked on Professor Oak's door once again, feeling much less nervous than I had before. Professor Oak wasn't the one to answer the door. Instead, it was one of his aides.

"Can I help you?" The aide said somewhat rudely. I made a face.

"I'm here to see Professor Oak," I said. The aide sniffed and looked me up and down. I shifted and folded my arms in front of my chest.

"He's busy right now, come back later."

"He told me to come back after I finished lunch. My name's Jade."

"Hm. Jade Wheeler?" I nodded. "Well, then I guess you can go in. Second door on the left is his office." I slipped past the rude aide and walked down, following his directions. What was his issue? I knocked on Professor Oak's office door and opened it when I heard him say to come in.

"Ah, Jade, I was wondering when you'd get back." He was sitting at a big wooden (oak? lol) desk with a computer and a giant egg on it. He was typing away on the computer as he spoke.

"Ah, sorry, I had a little detour on the way back." I fixed my hat. "By the way, your aide's not the friendliest guy out there." Professor Oak shook his head.

"What am I going to do with that boy? He wants to be a Pokémon professor, but he lacks the personality for it."

"You could say that again," I muttered under my breath. Louder, I added, "So what did you want me for?"

He gestured the to the chair in front of his desk and I took a seat. I felt strangely like a student sitting in the principal's office. Like I should be in trouble or about receive a detention or something. Eevee scratched lightly at my leg and I picked her up, sitting her in my lap.

"I've been thinking about it and I think you should have this." He patted the egg sitting on his desk. I blinked in surprise. The egg was a pure white with light blue swirls in the middle. It was easily the size of Eevee, probably the size of an ostrich egg.

"Me? Really?" I asked, running my fingers through Eevee's fur. Professor Oak nodded.

"We don't know which kind of Pokémon it will hatch into," he explained. "My aides and I have studied it extensively and we cannot figure it out. It might be a Pokémon from a different region that we haven't found before, or maybe even a new Pokémon never discovered before. Or, I suppose, it could just be a shiny Pokémon."

"A shiny?" I repeated, surprised. I didn't think shinies existed outside of the games.

"It's a Pokémon with an uncommon coloring. A pink dratini, for example. Or a red Gyarados."

"Ah."

"So we don't know what it will be. But it does us no good sitting around here, so why don't you take it?" He pushed the egg in my direction. It started to roll and I frantically leaned forward to catch it. "See, you'll be great at caring for it."

"But why me?" I couldn't help but ask. This guy barely knew me.

He shrugged. "You seem like a good person. And you can let me know what type of Pokémon it hatches into. At most, I'd ask you to send it back here for a bit so I could study it."

"I mean, if you'e sure. I'd love to take care of it." Carefully, I lifted the egg up and held it in my arms. It was decently heavy. There was a small part of me that wondered if I could handle taking care of it, or if I'd end up dropping it and turning it into an omelette.

Professor Oak seemed pleased with my decision. He gave me the lab's phone number so I could keep in touch, ask questions, and keep him updated about the egg. I added it to my contacts app. I said goodbye to Professor Oak and left the lab, flipping the aide off behind his back.

I ended up wandering the town with Eevee by my side for a bit. Finally, as it grew closer to dinner time, I settled on a bench in front of the beach. The beach in Pallet Town wasn't very sandy- it was more rocky than anything else. But it still gave that lovely beach feel that I loved, so we sat. I dug my one of the blank journals out of my bag. It was a black, faux-leather-bound notebook that reminded me of a real nice moleskin notebook. I checked my Pokédex for the date and started writing.

 _13 June 2017_

 _So I ended up in the Pokémon world today..._

* * *

 **A/N** : And here's chapter two! I'm thinking the next chapter should introduce some characters you will recognize and might even launch into the Pokémon I Choose You! movie. I hope you're all as excited for that as I am. The movie is kind of the whole reason I wanted to write this story.

If you haven't already, please go vote on the poll on my profile! I'm not too sure with the title of this story, so let me know what you think. And keep a lookout, there are a couple of other polls that might go up after this one is finished.

Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Any review is a good review.

Guest: That's a funny idea! I don't think Jade would ever do something like that, but maybe I'll write a oneshot about that lol.

ShadowStriker: Yes, eventually Eevee will evolve and actually one of the ones you listed is the one I already chose!

Until next time, trainers!


	3. The First Pokémon Battle

TITLE CHANGE: FROM **JADE'S JOURNAL** TO **THE KANTO TALES**

* * *

Carrying a giant egg kind of sucks. I figured that out pretty quickly the next day. Eevee wasn't very happy that I couldn't carry her, but I didn't want to risk sticking the egg in my bag. So I carried it with both arms, settled right in front of my stomach. I almost felt like I was pregnant or something.

We left Pallet fairly early in the morning, after having breakfast. Delia even used her break to see me off. She kept waving until I was out of sight. It was comforting, to say the least. So far, I'd met two characters from the show and they were both really nice. I just hoped that continued as my journey went on.

The stretch of land between Pallet and Viridian was kind of boring, much to my dismay. There were Pidgey and Rattata, which was exciting in and of itself just to see wild Pokémon, but after the first three or so they became kind of boring as well. I had five Pokéballs in my bag and I considered catching a Pidgey, though. Flying types were always useful, especially if they can learn Fly.

"What do you think, Eevee?" I asked, slowing to a stop in front of a flock of Pidgey. Wild Pokémon were definitely less scared of people than animals back in my world. The Pidgey barely spared me a glance as they continued to peck the ground, looking for worms or something. Did the Pokémon world have worms, or were there worm Pokémon? I couldn't think of any, but I wasn't too sure how it all worked here. Did people _eat_ Pokémon for meat? I hadn't noticed any meat-based dishes at the café, but I had eggs with breakfast... I looked down at the giant egg in my arms and squirmed uncomfortably.

No more eggs for breakfast then.

Eevee nudged against my ankles. I shifted the egg so I could look down at her.

"Do you wanna battle?" I asked. Eevee chirped, so I took it as a yes. I smiled. "Awesome! Hold on a second..." I looked around me and gently set my egg so it leaned against my bag on the ground, a little bit aways from where the flock was. I didn't want my egg getting caught in the crossfire! I dug out my Pokédex and a Pokéball.

"Okay, Eevee!" I scanned Eevee to get a list of her moves. It seemed she only had Tackle and Bite, but that would be enough. "Tackle that one right there!" I pointed to a Pidgey on the edge of the flock. Eevee nodded and barreled straight at it.

My stomach tightened a little as she collided with the bird Pokémon. Watching a Pokémon battle in real life was very different. It almost felt wrong, but Eevee didn't seem to mind. The Pidgey squawked indignantly and fluttered its wings so it landed on its feet. The rest of the Pidgey flew off in a huff, as if clearing the scene for the battle.

The Pidgey was definitely up for the battle. It flew up a few feet in the air, circling Eevee as it prepared to strike.

"Careful, Eevee," I said. I scanned the Pidgey, but it didn't give me any new info on it. I guessed once you caught the Pokémon, the Pokédex could read more on it. "Try to avoid its Tackle." Different emotions swirled inside me. I was excited, exhilarated almost for this battle. Eevee was winning as she dodged the Pidgey's divebomb. "Bite it!" Her teeth clamped down on its wing. But as the Pidgey managed to throw her off its arm and she hit the ground with a painful-sounding THUD, I felt awful. My Pokémon, my _friend_ , was getting hurt for what? My own enjoyment? How weird is that?

Maybe it's just because I didn't grow up where this was the norm. Pokémon are different from animals. Pokémon are practically made to battle. Eevee didn't seem too worse for wear and got up without a problem, much to my relief.

"Tackle it one more time!" I cried. I had no way of knowing the Pidgey's HP, but in the anime it didn't seem to take long to wear a Pokémon down to capture it.

Eevee did so, but the Pidgey dodged it. Without my command, Eevee bit and held onto the Pidgey's right leg and I took my chance before Eevee could get hurt again. I used every bit of skill I had as a softball pitcher back home and threw the Pokéball. It hit the Pidgey's chest, opening up and engulfing it in a red light. The ball and Eevee both fell gently to the ground.

"Good job, Eevee!" I knelt down as she pranced over to me. I hugged her, petting her head. "You're not hurt too bad, are you?" She butted her head gently against my cheek, so I guessed she was fine.

I watched as the Pokéball shook back and forth, the red light on the button glowing with every tremor. Finally, it settled and stopped. I'd caught my first Pokémon!

"We did it!" I cried, startling Eevee as I jumped in the air. She dug her claws into my arm a little, but I didn't care. I caught a Pokémon all on my own! I could have screamed, or danced, or both.

I held onto Eevee with one arm and picked the Pokéball up with my free hand. I kissed the red part lightly. "Nice to meet you, Pidgey. I'm your new trainer, Jade."

* * *

After the battle, I let Pidgey out of his Pokéball (yes, the Pokédex told me his sex once he was caught), and the three of us had a snack. It was a little early for lunch, but I figured the two of them deserved it. I only had generic Pokémon food, but the two of them didn't seem to mind. Pidgey liked to sit on my shoulder, but he kept pushing my hat off my head.

The rest of the trip to Viridian City was pretty uneventful. I carried my pearly white egg and Eevee kept right at me heels. I knew I'd have to figure out a different arrangement with the egg so I could carry Eevee, but I'd figure that out once I got to Viridian. I kept my eye out for interesting Pokémon, but the games were pretty accurate so far. There really were only Pidgey, Rattata, and the occasional Spearow. Seeing a Spearow made me think of Ash. Delia had said he left a day or two ago, so he'd probably already had his Spearow attack. You know, _if_ things were happening the same way they did in the anime. For all I knew, the anime could have been way off.

I hoped I'd get to meet him. Maybe I could even talk my way into traveling with him, Misty, and Brock!

No, Jade, don't get your hopes up! I chastised myself sternly. It wouldn't do to get excited about traveling with Ash and his friends and then be disappointed when it didn't happen. This was going to be a fun, exciting experience either way and I didn't want anything ruining it.

It was getting dark by the time Viridian City loomed in the distance. My legs already hurt and it was the first real day of my journey! I was gonna have to gain some leg muscles and fast. Excitement shot through me like lightning when I saw the lights of the city, including the huge Pokémon Center, and I broke out into an awkward run. Eevee kept up easily, and I held onto my egg with all my might.

I was out of breath by the time I slowed to a stop. The Pokémon Center was the first thing you saw when you walked into town, so I decided to go there first. I wouldn't admit in the back of my mind that I was hoping, somehow, Ash and Misty would still be there.

I stopped short just as I stepped into the building. I furrowed my eyebrows. The inside of the PokéCenter didn't look like I remembered in the anime. It was white everywhere, very clean and reminiscent of a hospital. The lobby was huge and had people I could only assume were trainers hanging out everywhere. Still, even though it was different than the anime, it felt familiar. I just couldn't place my finger on it.

The only truly familiar thing, though, was Nurse Joy standing behind the desk. I walked up to her and she beamed at me.

"Welcome!" She said warmly. "How can I help you?"

I blinked, having forgotten for a moment the primary reason you go to a PokéCenter. "Oh, yeah! Can you check over my Eevee and Pidgey? They shouldn't be too roughed up, but..."

"Of course," Nurse Joy said. "Did you want to get a warming capsule for your egg? We have a few in the back."

I set the egg on the counter, careful to make sure it wouldn't roll, and dug out Pidgey's Pokéball. "A heating capsule?" I set the Pokéball on the counter and picked up Eevee.

Nurse Joy nodded. "It's sort of like a box that you stick a Pokémon egg into. It keeps the egg warm and then you can store it in your bag so you don't have to carry it everywhere."

"That's... convenient."

"Isn't it? I can grab one for you while I check out your Pokémon." Nurse Joy tried to pick Eevee up, but Eevee skitted away from her hands.

"Hey, it's alright," I said, placing a steady hand on Eevee's back. "Nurse Joy won't hurt you. And I'll be right out here when you're done." Eevee looked at me reproachfully, but finally let Nurse Joy pick her up gently. "That would be great, Nurse Joy."

She took Eevee and the Pokéball into the back room and I looked around for an empty seat. There was one near the phones and I sat down. I pulled out my journal and began to write about the day.

 _I caught my first Pokémon today..._

* * *

The next morning was when the real excitement began. It turned out that the Pokémon Center also doubled as a hotel. Nurse Joy had explained that trainers usually liked to stay in Pokémon Centers more than regular hotels because they would be surrounded by other trainers, rather than random tourists. So I'd stayed there for the night. I even let out Pidgey so he could sleep on the couch. He had used a blanket to make a little makeshift nest, which was so cute I had to take a picture. I sent to to my mom, knowing she would enjoy that kind of thing.

So the morning came and I carefully slipped my egg into the capsule Nurse Joy gave me. It was a sort of clear jar, but it was stronger than glass, and it fit snugly around the egg. As soon as the egg was inside, it heated up (according to Nurse Joy, to the exact temperature that particular egg needed) and then I could safely store the egg in my bag without having to worry about it breaking. So I slid the egg and capsule into my bag, still so surprised at the lack of weight. I recalled Pidgey and picked up Eevee.

I decided I'd find breakfast before exploring the town a bit. Yeah, I couldn't do the gym yet, but there was probably other things to see in Viridian City. We walked out into the lobby and I heard a familiar voice.

"So what's the big emergency?" I looked over to where the line of public phones were and saw the back of Ash Ketchum standing in front of one. I almost dropped Eevee.

"I knew if I didn't say that you would never call!" Delia's voice rang from the phone. Evidently Ash had it on speaker, so everyone in the lobby could hear his mother yell at him. More than a couple people were snickering.

"Ugh, I'm hanging up." Ash when to hit the 'End Call' button, but I couldn't help myself.

"Delia?" I called, shuffling over. Ash looked at me in surprise. He looked significantly older than he did in the anime (which made sense, since in the anime he was ten and here he had to be at least sixteen), but otherwise the exact same. Pikachu was even perched on his shoulder! It was so freaking cute. I smiled shyly and stepped close to Ash so Delia could see me.

"Jade! Oh Ash, this is the girl I was trying to tell you about!" Delia gushed. I blushed a little, holding Eevee close. "Wow, Jade, you sure made it to Viridian fast."

"There, uh, wasn't a whole lot to see, so..." I trailed off.

"Well, I'm glad you got to meet my son. Ash, this is Jade. Jade, my son Ash."

"Uh, hi," Ash said. He held out his hand and I shook it, feeling incredibly awkward.

"Hi. I met your mom yesterday when I got my Pokédex," I explained. Ash nodded in understanding.

Just then, a boy carrying a wounded Vaporeon burst into the Center. "Nurse Joy! Nurse Joy!" Everyone in the Center turned to look. I couldn't help but gawk at the sight of the Vaporeon. That sick feeling returned to my stomach. What if I let Eevee get hurt like that one day? The fact that I easily could without even meaning to scared the shit out of me.

"What happened?" Nurse Joy cried, running to the counter. The boy gently passed his Vaporeon over and started to cry.

"That Entei... It was just too strong! We tried everything and..."

"Entei?" A girl cried out. "Here? Where?"

"Sorry Mom, we gotta go!" Ash quickly hung up the phone, ignoring his mother's shout.

The boy looked up, wiping snot from his nose. "On the east side of town, on the way to the Pokémon League. It was in the forest. It came out of nowhere." Nurse Joy simpered softly to the Vaporeon as she carried it into the back.

There was a pregnant pause as all the trainers exchanged looks. At almost the exact same moment, we all broke into a run.

* * *

 **A/N** : And here's chapter three! I hope you enjoyed it. I'm kind of on a roll with this story and I hope it keeps up. I'm notoriously bad at keeping up with fics lol. Hopefully since I'm doing a whole Pokémon rewatch, the fire will stay lit longer and I'll get farther and farther with less breaks in between.

If you've seen the I Choose You! movie, you might recognize the ending. Like I said before, I'm blending the anime and the movie, so this is going to be the start of the movie section of the story! In this version, it goes straight from Ash taking Pikachu to Viridian after the Spearow attack to running to find Entei (we're ignoring the fact that Ash had gotten three badges by then in the movie). I hope you all like it! It won't be exactly like the movie, as I've only seen it twice and have no way to watch it again, but I hope it's good anyway.

Please leave a review, letting me know what you think or if you're enjoying this story! Any review is a good review.

Guest: The main pairing will be Jade with whoever I decide to pair her! I will probably do a poll about it in the next chapter or two, so keep an eye out for that.

Lloryn: I already have a plan for Eevee's evolution, but you've given me an idea...

shadowtala: I know there are a few instances of different-colored Pokémon in the show (like the pink Butterfree in Bye-Bye Butterfree), but I just wasn't sure if they were explicitly called shinies or not!

ShadowStriker: I'm so glad you like the movie, too! I hope you enjoy how it plays out in this story :) and I definitely have a plan for both the egg and Eevee... I'm hoping no one will see them coming, but also not think I'm reaching with them (if that makes any sense lol)

Until next time, trainers!


	4. A Battle With a Legendary

I knew I didn't have a chance in hell to capture Entei. Eevee and Pidgey had only been in one battle, for Christ's sake! There was no way they could go up against a legendary Pokémon. But the chance to see Entei? A legendary Pokémon that wasn't even from the Kanto region? Hell yeah I needed to see that!

Ash and I sort of ran together. We were following the crowd, but as the trainers started to disperse as they took different routes to the east town exit, we stayed together. I held Eevee close with one arm and fished out my Pokédex with the other. I opened the Town Map.

"Go left!" I shouted. "That'll give us a clear shot into the woods!"

We turned left, ducking around a giant department store. In the distance, we saw where forest and city met. Viridian really wasn't that big of a city. Right now, I was grateful for it.

We stopped once we were well into the woods and caught out breath. I dropped Eevee to the ground and leaned against a tree.

"Where do we even look?" Ash asked in between breaths. I thought about it. About halfway across town, it'd clicked what was going on. This wasn't the second (or whatever) episode of the Pokémon anime. If we're running into the forest to look for Entei, we had to be in the newest Pokémon movie. I'd seen it in theaters about a month ago, but only the one time. I just remembered that Entei, Suicune, Raikou, and Ho-Oh were in it. The plot was already kind of fuzzy.

"A rock," I said, remembering the scene where Ash found Entei. "A big rock in a clearing."

"What?" Ash looked at me like I was crazy. I shook my head, obviously unable to explain how I knew something so specific about where Entei would be. I fished out Pidgey's Pokéball and released him.

"Pidgey, fly around and see if you can find a giant rock in a clearing. We're looking for this Pokémon." I pulled up a picture of Entei on my Pokédex- it was a blurry picture that seemed to have been taken mid-battle. I guessed it was the best one anyone had been able to get so far. I showed it to Pidgey and he squawked in affirmation before flying off.

I pushed myself off the tree. "Let's go. Entei's not just gonna stroll up to us."

"Yeah," Ash said, still out of breath. I didn't comment on it, especially since my lungs were burning. If anything, this journey was definitely going to get me into shape. We started walking in a different direction than Pidgey at Ash's suggestion to help us cover more ground.

"So you know my mom," Ash commented after a few minutes of silence. I nodded, readjusting my bag on my shoulder.

"I stayed at the bed and breakfast the other day," I replied. "She's really nice."

"Yeah, I know. Where are you from?"

"Primer Island," I replied after a moment. I'd forgotten the name, to be honest. I just hoped Ash didn't notice. If he did, he didn't say anything.

"Oh, that's so cool! I always wanted to live on an island-" Ash's statement was cut off by Pidgey practically divebombing us.

"Pidgey!" I shouted, ducking out of the way. My pink hat was whipped from my head, as well as my sunglasses. I picked them up and dusted them off. "Did you find Entei?"

Pidgey yowled at me, which I hoped was a yes.

"Let's go then!" Ash shouted, hands clenched into fists. He looked ready to jump to the moon, he was so filled with excitement. I had to admit, I was pretty excited, too. I could feel it buzzing in my bones. I replaced my hat on my head and stuffed my sunglasses in my bag.

"Lead the way, Pidgey!" Pidgey apparently didn't know how to go slow, so we ended up running again, trying to keep up. Luckily, it was a short distance until we came upon the clearing. We stopped right at the edge of it, panting hard. Entei wasn't here yet, but the scene was so vivid in my memory that I knew this was the right place. It was exactly like the movie.

"Is it here?" Ash asked, taking a step inside. As soon as he did so, a giant brown blur leapt over our heads and landed on the rock. Entei in all of his glory looked down on us. I froze in place, staring at him with wide eyes. He was freaking gigantic! Easily the size of three horses. It looked like he was a giant's pet puppy. It was so cool, but so scary. Just one of those paws could crush me in a second. I couldn't understand how that kid had pitted his Vaporeon against him.

Ash cheered. Not too far away, we heard another cheer. A girl with her hair pulled up was on the edge of the clearing as well, a Piplup near her knees. She and Ash shared a competitive grin and ran into the clearing. Both started shouting orders at their Pokémon.

I pulled out my Pokédex and started taking as many pictures as I could.

"What do you think, Eevee?" I asked. Eevee cowered behind my legs. "Okay, okay. I wasn't gonna make you fight. That just wouldn't be fair, now would it?" Eevee shook her head.

Ash was a pretty good trainer, which was surprising since this was supposed to be only his third day. But he was shouting orders and Pikachu was responding so well that it could have been a great battle if it had been against anyone but Entei. Entei leapt out of the way easily time and time again as Pikachu sent Thunderbolts and Piplup shot out Hydra Pumps.

I just kept taking pictures, trying to document the battle and Entei as best I could. I didn't particularly like being on the sidelines, but I knew this was way out of my league. It was easy to see that it was out of Ash and the other girl's league as well, but they were more headstrong than I was.

Entei let out a mighty roar and a burst of flames came out of his mouth, straight towards the three of us. I yelped, scooping up Eevee and running out of the way. I ducked behind a tree and cried out as flames licked at my legs.

As soon as the Flamethrower attack ended, the girl cried out, "Piplup, Bubblebeam now!"

"Lucario, Aura Sphere!" A new voice shouted. I peaked around my tree to see another boy had joined the battle. He had dark green hair cut close to his shoulders and a white lab coat.

The battle continued for about another minute, but then Entei ran off so quick there was no chance in anyone capturing him.

"If you hadn't gotten in the way, I could have totally caught it!" Ash cried, pointing a finger at the girl. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"You're the one who was in the way! Piplup totally had him on the ropes."

"What? Come on, a Pokémon battle right now," Ash yelled. "Then we'll see who could have caught Entei! I'm Ash from Pallet and I won't lose!"

The girl smirked. "I'm Verity from Twinleaf Town and I accept your challenge. Hey you!" Verity! I remembered her now. She was the daughter of... Cynthia, I think? I knew she was in the movie, but the details weren't too clear. And the boy with the Lucario had to be... Verity turned to the boy and said, "And after I've beat Ash, I wanna battle you too."

"I wanna battle you too!" Ash added. He paused as something clicked in his head. He turned back to Verity. "Hey! What do you mean, after you beat me? I'm gonna beat you!"

"I'm Sorrel from Veilstone City. I think I'll pass on the battle." Sorrel waved carelessly in our direction. "And if you want a tip, you should find some shelter from the wind and rain." The three of us all looked up, but even though the trees obscured the sky above it didn't look like it was going to rain.

"It's going to...?" I started but when I looked back, Sorrel was gone. Eevee slipped from my arms and nuzzled my legs, licking at some of the burns. I hissed a little.

"Oh, you got hurt!" Verity said. She pulled her backpack around and dug out a small jar. "I have some Burn Heal. It won't heal them completely, since you're not a Pokémon, but it should take care of most of the pain."

"Thanks," I said, accepting the jar. I stumbled over to a nearby rock and sat down, applying the ointment to my legs. "I'm Jade, by the way."

"Nice to meet you!" Verity sat next to me. "Where are you from?"

"Primer Island."

"Oh, I've never heard of that place." I wanted to say that I hadn't either, but I bit my tongue.

"This stuff really works," I said instead, handing the jar back to her.

"I know. I always keep it on hand. Fire Pokémon don't have the best aim."

Ash sat harshly on the ground, looking about two seconds from a hissy fit.

"What's your problem?" I asked.

"I wanted to catch Entei," he grumbled. I rolled my eyes.

"Don't be baby. You didn't have a chance anyway." I scratched Piplup's head and he cried out in glee. "At least you can say you battled him. If you want, you can look at the pictures I took." Ash perked up at that. The boy had some mood swings, that much was sure.

"You took pictures?" I waved my Pokédex in his direction. He jumped up and took it from me.

Thunder rumbled above us. I looked up, but still couldn't see anything.

"That kid might be right. We should find a place to hide out from the rain." Verity said, standing. She held out a hand and helped me up.

"Should we head back to Viridian?" I asked. Eevee licked at my ankle and made a face at the taste of the ointment and I giggled. "It can't be that far. Verity pulled out her own Pokédex and looked up the Town Map. She made a face. I took a step closer to look over her shoulder. We were practically in Johto, we were so far east.

"Yikes." I said. Verity snorted.

"You can say that again. If we're not running, it'll take us a day or two to get back to Viridian." Thunder boomed again, louder this time. Eevee jumped clear off the ground, and Piplup and Pikachu hurried over to comfort her. It was cute.

"We definitely do not have two days before the rain hits. So yeah, let's find a cave or something." I said. I leaned down and picked up Eevee.

"Pika!" Pikachu whined. I grabbed him and scooped both of them into my arms. "Pika.. chu," Pikachu hummed, clearly content. Verity led the way, Piplup in her arms. I vaguely thought how weird it was that the four of us all leave our starter out of its Pokéball, even though it's actually really rare for trainers to do that.

"Ash! Hurry up," I called when I realized he was staying in the same place, transfixed by my pictures. Ash looked up and ran over to where we were waiting.

"These are really good!" Ash said, swiping from picture to picture. "You should send them to Professor Oak."

I shouldered my bag. "I will." Drops of rain started falling from the sky. "After we find shelter!" We picked up our pace, ducking into the thicker trees for cover. The rain got heavier quicker. I didn't even know where to start looking for a cave or something to use as shelter.

* * *

 **A/N** : Chapter four's up and ready to go! We're knee deep into the I Choose You! movie, so if you haven't already realized that there will be major spoilers in this story for it, here's your warning now. For anyone who might be wondering (I know there were a few reviews about this), Entei is in Kanto partially because that's how it happened in the movie (Ash was at Celadon Gym in the movie before this takes place, but I moved it around a little) and also as explained in this chapter, they have run so far east that they're practically in Johto already. And anyway, I feel like legendaries can do whatever the hell they want, you know?

Also, there's yet another poll up on my profile! If you could go vote in it, that would be great. I'm trying to decide who I want to pair Jade with for this story. I have a person in mind, but it would take a lot of finagling to make it work so... Let me know what you all think. I need to know soon so I can steer the story in the right way.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a review if you don't mind. Any review is a good review!

Until next time, trainers!


	5. Saving Charmander

It was pouring harder than ever when we stumbled upon Charmander. I'd convinced Eevee to go inside her Pokéball (she was glaring at daggers at me as I did so) and Verity had gotten Piplup into hers. Ash said he knew not to even try with Pikachu.

I was soaked, my pink hat nothing more than soggy fabric clinging to my head. I shivered, regretting my clothing choice. Skirts and cold wind really did not go well together!

"Hey," Ash murmured, slowing to a stop. Verity ran right into his back, but I was able to stop just before collision. I skipped backwards, almost slipping in a puddle.

"What the hell?" Verity cried. She rubbed her nose harshly.

"It's a Charmander," I said, remembering what was going on before I even saw the Pokémon. I stepped to the side to look around Ash. Charmander was sitting on a rock, its usually orange color dulled by its gloom and the rain. Its flame was so low, it couldn't have lit a match.

"What are you doing out here, buddy?" Ash asked, kneeling down. The Charmander looked down pitifully and my heart surged. I knew it had been abandoned. Stupid Damien! Who could leave their poor Charmander to die in the rain like this? Only someone with a cruel heart, that's who. I was overcome with the urge to hug Charmander, but I didn't. Charmander was Ash's Pokémon. It wouldn't be fair of me to steal that from him.

"Char char," Chamander said. Pikachu jumped off Ash's shoulder and patted Charmander on the back.

"Its flame," I pointed out. I dug through my bag really quick and pulled out a magazine I'd swiped from the Pokémon Center, holding it out to shield Charmander's tail. "It'll die in this rain. We have to do something."

"Definitely," Verity said. "We need to find shelter, and quick."

"Char!" Charmander spotted something in the distance and took off running, not caring in the least that the rain could put out its flame. There was a boy coming up the trail, a wolf-like Pokémon trailing him. Charmander launched itself at the boy's legs, hugging tight.

The boy was not what I remembered Damien looking like. He was tall with large orange hair. His bangs made this weird X above his nose. He looked mean. That assumption was proved two seconds later when he snorted and kicked Charmander of his leg and into the mud.

"You're still here?" He sneered.

"Hey!" Verity shouted. We ran over to them.

"You can't treat a Pokémon like that," I said, kneeling down to help Charmander up. It looked utterly heartbroken.

"I can't believe the stupid thing's still here," he said scathingly. "I left it hours ago."

"What?" Ash asked, dumbfounded. "It's your Charmander?"

"It was." The guy sniffed haughtily before snickering. "It wouldn't leave me alone, so I told it to sit on that rock and I'd come back for it. Stupid thing believed me."

"You can't do that!" Ash yelled right in the boy's face. His fists were clenched, ready to punch the asshole clean across the face. The boy's wolf-Pokémon stepped in front menacingly.

"Yeah, some Pokémon are so loyal, they'd wait for you forever," Verity added. I pulled Charmander closer to me, trying to shield its tail with my body. It wasn't working so well, considering I was dripping just as much as the rain.

"It's too weak," the boy said. "It'll never be a worthwhile Pokémon."

I ran forward, shoving at the boy before his Pokémon could react. "That's a trainer's job to make a Pokémon stronger, you jerk! You can't just leave a Pokémon to die like that!"

"Lycan!" The Pokémon ran forward without warning, punching me in the gut. All the air whizzed out of my lungs and I fell to my knees, gasping.

"Lycanroc!" The boy scolded. The Pokémon bared its teeth at me and backed up so it was behind its trainer. Pikachu's cheeks sparked dangerously in the rain as he hopped in front of me.

"The name's Cross," the boy said, looking down at me with disdain. "Maybe next time you'll learn not to mess with me." With that, he and his Lycanroc stalked off. Charmander cried out and tried to run after them, but it had become too weak and fell to the ground.

"Char... mander..." it croaked. Ash scooped it into his arms, using his jacket to cover the flame.

"We gotta get it to shelter!" Without waiting, he ran off in a random direction, Pikachu on his heels. I fought to get to my feet, still gasping for air. Verity helped me up.

"Are you okay?" She asked. I gasped wildly, finally inhaling precious air.

"I-I think so," I managed roughly. "We'd... better follow him."

* * *

"It's not my Charmander!" Ash was shouting as we entered the cave. My arm was around Verity's shoulders and I was embarrassingly using her as a crutch. My breath was mostly back by now, but I still felt really shaky.

"Likely story," Sorrel said, glaring at Ash.

"It's not his!" Verity interjected, hurrying us over to the two boys. I stumbled over my feet a few times, but she kept me upright. "It was some guy named Cross." Sorrel's face softened. He gingerly placed a hand on Charmander's forehead, moving his thumb in a sort of caress.

"Oh. Well, let's get him fixed up, shall we?"

We ended up surrounding Sorrel's fire. Ash laid Charmander gingerly on the ground close to the flames as Sorrel began mixing herbs and crushing them. I sat nearby, leaning against the wall and wincing. I pulled up my shirt a little and saw a large, purple bruise forming on my stomach. God, leg burns and a stomach bruise- the Pokémon just had it out for me today!

"What happened?" Sorrel asked, looking over at me while he mixed more medicine. I blushed and hurriedly pulled my shirt back down.

"I, uh, sort of got beat up by a Pokémon," I admitted. Sorrel gaped at me, his hands pausing. I hurriedly looked away, digging Eevee's Pokéball out of my bag. She was gonna be mad that she'd been in there for so long.

"How?" Sorrel asked. I glanced awkwardly at him and he cleared his throat. "Uh, right. Ash, can you tilt Charmander's head up?"

"Sure." Ash tilted Charmander's chin and Sorrel poured a spoonful of the medicine into his mouth.

The storm wailed on as I let Eevee out of her Pokéball. She bit me lightly on the hand as soon as she was corporeal, showing her disdain for being trapped in her Pokéball.

"I know, I know," I said, rubbing on her head. "I'm sorry, but it was for your own good."

"It's too cold to have our Pokémon out," Sorrel said. I noticed then that his Lucario was nowhere to be seen. Ash leaned back against the cave wall, cradling Charmander in his arms.

"Yeah," Verity said lightly. She was rolling Piplup's Pokéball between her hands. "Even Piplup wouldn't like this wind."

Eevee glared at me and I laughed. I pulled her into my arms and cuddled up with her.

"I'd put Pikachu in his Pokéball," Ash said, holding one in his hand, "but he hates it. Don't you, buddy?" Pikachu spun and used his tail to whack the Pokéball out of Ash's hand. We all laughed.

"Eevee's already mad at me for putting her inside hers," I explained. Eevee nipped at my hand again. "Hey!" She licked the bite mark, as if that made up for it. I rolled my eyes at her.

Just like that, Lucario and Piplup forced their way out of their Pokéballs.

"What?" Sorrel asked.

"Piplup! You'll catch cold," Verity cried. Piplup jumped into her lap, clearly not caring.

"I... guess we'll just be cold together?" Sorrel said awkwardly. Lucario nuzzled up to him. Tears pricked my eyes. The whole scene reminded me of that one episode- Snow Way Out, I think it was called? I just remembered that it made me cry. Without thinking, I pulled out my Pokédex and started taking pictures of everyone with their Pokémon.

"What are you doing?" Verity asked. I shrugged.

"Making memories?" I offered. "I can send them to you if you want." Verity smiled and pulled out her own Pokédex.

"Well, then I think you'll want some, too." I smiled for the camera, pulling Eevee close for the picture.

"Guys, look!" Ash said, stage-whispering. He nodded his head towards the cave entrance, where Entei and a group of his friends were slowly making their way inside.

"I guess they had the same idea," Sorrel commented.

"Wow," Verity breathed.

The group of Pokémon settled on the far side of the cave. All of them huddled around Entei, who seemed to be using his fire powers to warm his body and provide warmth for his friends. We talked idly between the four of us, all stealing more and more looks at the legendary Pokémon sitting in our cave, before all conversation died off. Ash yawned loudly.

"Is it safe to sleep?" He wondered out loud. "With the cold and all?" He looked to Sorrel, who had pronounced himself a Pokémon Professor-in-training. Sorrel shrugged.

"If we keep the fire tended and don't stray too far, we shouldn't be in danger. It's not like it's a snowstorm out there." I wondered who would tend the fire if we were all sleeping, but that seemed to be good enough for Ash. He and Pikachu bunked down for bed pretty quick. He still cuddled Charmander, careful to keep the flame away from his body. I couldn't help but snap one more picture of Ash, cradling Charmander in one arm and Pikachu in the other. I'd have to send it to his mom- she'd love it.

The others slowly fell asleep until it was just me and Lucario awake. Sorrel leaned on Lucario's shoulder, but the Pokémon didn't seem tired at all. In the distance, Entei stared at us.

After a few minutes of deliberation, I came to a decision. I set a sleeping Eevee in Verity's lap and pulled my messenger bag open. I dug out the bag of generic Pokémon food I'd bought for Eevee and her food and water bowls. Slowly, I approached the group of Pokémon.

"If any of you are hungry or thirsty," I said, setting the bowls down. I was still a safe distance so as not to startle them, but I filled the bowls with food and water. "Feel free to have some." I stood there for a moment, but they all just sort of stared at me. Okay, then. I turned around and went back to my seat, retrieving Eevee after I added another log to the fire. I pulled out my journal and started to write.

 _So I met a legendary Pokémon today..._

My eyes started to droop after I finished writing; I stared at the fire, the flames lulling me closer and closer to sleep. A small noise stirred me and I noticed a little Nidoran eating from the bowl. I smiled good.

I looked over at Entei and found him staring at me. He seemed to be... appraising me. Or something. Or maybe I was just really tired. It had been a long day after all.

Eventually, my eyes fell shut and I slept through the night. By the time we awoke, Entei was gone and the bowls were completely empty.

* * *

 **A/N** : Another chapter done! I hope I'm doing a good job at inserting Jade into the story without making it too much like the original. I hate when OC stories are carbon copies of the show they're from, but you also can't make it too different...

Also, just a quick reminder that there's a poll on my profile for Jade's love interest! I have some ideas in mind, but I need your help to guide where the story should go.

Please leave a review! You guys have been doing so well at reviewing, and then I only got one on the last chapter. It kinda bummed me out, to be honest. I would greatly appreciate it if you left a review, saying anything at all. Any review is a good review!

Until next time, trainers!


	6. The Rainbow Hero

The forest still smelled of rain when we stepped out of the cave, all packed up and ready to go. As they packed up, Sorrel began chatting about Entei, and how Ho-Oh bestowed life on the three legendary Pokémon. He seemed to be opening up to us a lot more after spending the night in a cave, bonding with all of us. I couldn't help but smile. It was nice. He was a good storyteller.

"The three Pokémon became legendary, each standing for something different. Raikou, for the lightning that struck. Entei, for the fire that consumed the tower. And Suicune, for the water that stopped it," Sorrel explained.

Verity sighed. "Oh, I just love Suicune!"

"Me too," I murmured, petting Eevee's head softly. Sorrel pulled out his Pokédex, showing us the pictures of the three legendaries. Like the one I'd seen of Entei, the pictures of Raikou and Suicune were blurry and barely visible. If I didn't already know what those Pokémon looked like, I wouldn't be able to recognize them from these pictures. "What about Ho-Oh?" I asked.

"There aren't any actual pictures of it," Sorrel explained. He swiped in his camera roll to a picture of a stone carving. The figure in the carving was clearly Ho-Oh. It looked just like it did in the anime, I noticed. Pikachu and Ash gasped in unison when they saw it.

"What?" Verity asked, raising her eyebrows.

"We saw that Pokémon!" Ash exclaimed. Hurriedly, he dug in his pockets and produced a feather. It looked like an ordinary brown Pidgey feather, but it glinted rainbow when it caught the light. "This feather fell from its tail."

Sorrel's mouth dropped, openly gaping. "Th-that can't be!"

"The Rainbow Hero story, right?" I asked, recalling the legend from the Pokémon: I Choose You! movie. I tapped my chin thoughtfully. "How did that go again?" Sorrel looked impressed that I'd heard of the legend.

"Few people have ever actually seen Ho-Oh," Sorrel explained to Verity and Ash. "None in the last century or so. But according to the legend, when Ho-Oh encounters a trainer it particularly likes, it bestows the Rainbow Wing." He gestured to Ash's rainbow feather.

"Well, I guess that means Ho-Oh likes me!" Ash looked pleased at the idea. "How about that?"

"But then what's the Rainbow Hero?" Verity asked. She set a wiggling Piplup on the ground, who then started running in circles around our feet. I let Eevee down, who promptly began to chase the penguin Pokémon.

Sorrel looked to me, and I flushed. I scrambled to recall anything I could from the movie (I'd only seen it once, so my memory was a bit fuzzy). "Doesn't the legend say that the Rainbow Wing is given to the Rainbow Hero, and it'll lead the way to Ho-Oh? It's like a gift, giving you a chance to properly meet it."

"Nice!" Ash punched his fist in the air, beaming. Verity scoffed teasingly.

"Oh? Impressed with yourself, are you?" Ash nodded in all seriousness, which caused all of us to laugh.

"So, are you gonna follow it?" I asked, tucking my hair behind my ears. "Find Ho-Oh and everything?"

"Obviously! This is, like, the coolest thing that's ever happened to me. Who would give up the chance to fight a legendary Pokémon?!" I laughed a little at his excitement. He was just like he was in the anime; it was nice. Almost familiar.

"Meeting Ho-Oh would be amazing for my research," Sorrel said lightly, looking anywhere that wasn't Ash. I could have snorted- he wanted to be invited to come! As if we weren't all gonna tag along whether Ash wanted us to or not. That was my plan, at least. And from the ambitious (read: greedy) look on Verity's face, it was her plan, as well. No way we were giving up the chance to meet a legendary like Ho-Oh.

"You're gonna come, right?" Ash asked earnestly. "It'll probably be tough, finding Ho-Oh. I could use all the help I could get!"

"It'll be a team effort," Verity chimed in with a grin. I nodded.

"Where to first?" Ash held up the feather and it caught the sunlight, glinting beautifully. Suddenly, a rainbow bounced off the feather and into the distance. Ha, follow the rainbow. Except instead of leprechauns at the end, it'll be a legendary Pokémon. In my opinion, that was much better. I patted Ash on the back. "Lead the way, then, Hero."

* * *

Charmander was having a hard time. He'd agreed to join Ash, now that he'd been abandoned by Cross, but it was still hard. I couldn't blame the poor Pokémon. It must have been heartbreaking to be left behind like that. Every time that Ash brought Charmander out, he just moped around.

"Come on, Charmander! We gotta train or else we'll never get any stronger," Ash tried to explain.

"Char char," Charmander said sadly. Pikachu patted Charmander lightly on the back.

We were taking a lunch break and Ash was trying to use the opportunity to train. He had three Pokémon so far- Pikachu, Metapod (it had evolved that morning), and now Charmander. I tried not to be jealous that I only had two. I knew it wasn't a competition, but it kind of felt like one. Especially since we'd started our Pokémon journeys pretty much at the same time.

I texted my mom almost every day, though we were so far from proper civilization that there wasn't good phone service a lot of the time. Luckily, the Pokémon world seemed to have adapted to trainers going off into the deep wilderness, because there were rest areas in the most unexpected places. Proper bathrooms (complete with showers!) and vending machines were inside each one, though there were never any attendants. Still, it was nice to be able to clean up every once in a while, and to eat something that our Pokémon hadn't foraged for us in the woods. Pidgey always crushed the fruit he brought back.

We were at one of these stops for our break. It had been a week since we'd set out on our journey to find Ho-Oh. We kept following the rainbow, but its end always seemed out of reach. It never even felt like we were getting closer.

"We're in Johto," Sorrel commented, sitting down on the bench next to me. I was brushing a tangle out of Eevee's tail as she munched on some Poké-food. Sorrel had a map unfolded across his lap, which was probably from the rest stop.

"I mean, that makes sense," I said. "We were practically there when we met Entei." My Town Map app hadn't loaded much since we'd left. I leaned a little to get a good look at the map. "Still pretty far from any towns, though."

"Agh!" Ash cried, dropping down on his butt. Charmander slumped beside him, looking just as defeated.

"You guys okay?" I called over.

"Training Pokémon is hard," Ash complained childishly. I rolled my eyes.

"It's really not that bad," Verity said as she exited the rest stop, freshly showered and her hair still dripping. She knelt down next to Charmander, murmuring something so quiet I couldn't hear.

I patted Eevee gently and she hopped down off my lap. I took my turn in the shower. The water was lukewarm at best, but I wasn't complaining. Being able to wash mountain dirt off of me felt like a gift from God, honestly.

If I was being honest, there was a small part of me that was getting impatient. I knew it was ridiculous, that meeting a legendary was worth weeks of travel for, but still. I had been on my journey for nine days now and felt like I'd barely seen anything! We weren't running into any exotic Pokémon, despite the fact that we were apparently in another region. It was all Pidgeys, Rattatas, Spearows, Caterpies, and Weedles. The most exciting thing we'd seen was a Pinsir, but it had gotten away before Ash could capture it.

I'd expected to have at least one badge by now. I'd thought I'd have caught more Pokémon- something! I kept these thoughts to myself, though. Everyone else seemed to be having a great time and I didn't want to seem ungrateful.

I shook my head, rinsing shampoo from my blonde hair. I was being stupid. Even if the only Pokémon I ever saw again was Rattata, it would still be amazing. Pokémon weren't supposed to even exist! I shouldn't complain because I hadn't seen something cool, like a Dratini or Lapras, yet.

Besides, if I stuck with Ash there was a good chance I'd see just about every cool Pokémon there was. If this was anything like the anime, Ash was a magnet for all things cool when it came to Pokémon.

I finished showering and headed back outside just in time to hear Ash cry out in frustration, "God, Pikachu's not this hard to train!"

Charmander seemed to curl in on himself at that, looking heartbroken.

"Ash!" Verity scolded sharply.

"How could you say that?" Sorrel demanded.

Charmander looked like he was going to cry. I sighed and jogged over, scooping Charmander into my arms.

"I didn't mean-" Ash tried, but I shook my head.

"Every Pokémon is different," I said softly, but firmly. Charmander buried his face into my shoulder. "Charmander's had a rough time. If you're going to be a good trainer, you need to have patience. And you need to not say crap like that and hurt your own Pokémon's feelings!"

"I'm sorry," Ash said. I shook my head.

"It's not me you should apologize to." Ash sighed and tried to take Charmander from my arms, but Charmander clung to me.

Charmander wouldn't leave my side all afternoon, much to Eevee's annoyance. We ended up choosing to camp out at the rest stop and just relax and train for the rest of the day. Pidgey was content to stretch his wings for a while before returning to his Pokéball, but Eevee wanted to be in my lap. Unfortunately, Charmander had already claimed it.

Ash trained Pikachu and Metapod, though he occasionally tried to talk to Charmander again. Charmander wasn't having it. Sorrel tried to give Ash some encouragement, but it just seemed to make Ash feel worse.

We were surrounding the fire as the light died down when Ash finally said something.

"How can I be a Rainbow Hero if I keep messing up like this?" I was quiet; I really didn't know what to say to that. Charmander was half-asleep in my lap.

"Being human means you'll mess up," Verity said after a minute. "But being someone good enough to be a hero means you'll do what you can to fix it." Sorrel nodded in agreement. Ash turned to me.

"Can I?" He asked, holding out his arms. Gently, I handed Charmander over.

"I think I'm gonna go for a walk," I said. My legs burned a little as I stood from sitting for so long. "You coming, Eevee." Eevee nodded and I picked her up, letting her rest on my shoulder. It was a weird spot, but she kept her balance well.

I made sure not to wander too far, for fear of getting lost and having no service to find my way back. I stumbled upon a creek not too far away. I could still hear my friends talking, though I couldn't make out what any of them were saying.

Eevee was dozing on my shoulder. The air was still all around. It felt so peaceful.

That's when I noticed the Pokémon across the creek. Suicune.

I gasped lightly. I remembered that Verity had seen Suicune in the movie, but I hadn't expected to get the chance myself. Suicune stood tall, its colorful mane swirling around its head even in the absence of wind.

My fingers itched to grab a Pokéball and try to catch it, no matter how futile it would be. There was no way I was strong enough as a trainer to catch a legendary, just like I'd told Ash that day when we'd seen Entei. But I was still tempted to try.

I didn't, though. Something told me not to. Instead, we just looked at each other for a long, peaceful moment. Finally, Suicune nodded deeply, turned, and left.

By the time I got back to our camp, it was pitch-black save for the stars and our fire. I laid Eevee down on my sleeping bag and dug my journal out of my messenger bag. I looked up at the inky sky before writing.

 _There are so many more stars in the sky here. I still can't believe I'm actually on a Pokémon journey..._

* * *

 **A/N** : Hey guys, sorry for the long break between updates! Like I said in the first chapter, I'm kind of notorious for sucking at updates. But this story is not abandoned and I'm going to try to get some more updates going! Thank you to anyone who's still gonna read this story six months later (lmao).

Two quick notes:

1\. I am deviating from the movie a bit, half because I don't want to watch it again rn (lol) and half because I just want to get to the part with Ho-Oh.

2\. I'm seriously regretting giving the Pokémon gendered pronouns.

Please leave a review, if you don't mind! They definitely help me keep invested in a story and make quicker updates much more likely.

Until next time, trainers!


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